Rick Perry won't seek another term as Texas governor in 2014

By Eva Ruth Moravec |
July 8, 2013
| Updated: July 9, 2013 8:15am

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announces he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announces he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announces he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov.Texas Gov. Rick Perry announces he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

A special prosecutor will investigate charges of coercion, bribery and official oppression against Gov. Rick Perry for vetoing funding for the Travis County District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Rick Perry supporters applaud at a press conference where he announced he is not seeking re-election during an announcement on Monday, July, 8, 2013 at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announces he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry holds his new granddaughter Ella Gray Perry, as his son Griffin, right, Ella Gray's father stands close by. Perry announced he is not seeking re-election during an announcement on Monday, July, 8, 2013 at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, right, announces he is not seeking re-election during an announcement on Monday, July, 8, 2013 at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Pat Hingst, a Perry supporter from Canyon Lake, listens as Texas Gov. Rick Perry announces he is not seeking re-election during an announcement on Monday, July, 8, 2013 at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry gives a kiss to Weisie Steen following his announcement he is not seeking re-election during at announcement on Monday, July, 8, 2013 at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry takes to the stage to announce he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry shakes hands as he takes the stage to announce he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry kisses his wife Anita Perry as he prepares to announce he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Texas Gov. Rick Perry greets a supporter as he prepares to announce he is not seeking re-election on Monday, July, 8, 2013, during an announcement at Holt Cat Co. in San Antonio.

Photo By JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Women and men protest at the entrance of Holt Cat on W.W. White road Monday July 8, 2013 where Texas governor Rick Perry announced that he will not seek reelection. Doctor Rebecca Cavazos (right) said she was their to support women's rights.

Photo By Eric Gay/Associated Press

Texas Gov. Rick Perry greets supporters before announcing he will not seek reelection for governor, Monday, July 8, 2013, at Holt Cat in San Antonio, Texas. A staunch Christian conservative, proven job-creator and fierce defender of states' rights, Perry has been in office nearly 13 years, making him the nation's longest-sitting current governor. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Photo By Eric Gay/Associated Press

Texas Gov. Rick Perry reaches to shakes hands with supporters prior to announcing he will not seek reelection as governor, Monday, July 8, 2013, at Holt Cat in San Antonio. A staunch Christian conservative, proven job-creator and fierce defender of states' rights, Perry has been in office nearly 13 years, making him the nation's longest-sitting current governor. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Photo By JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

People protest at the entrance of Holt Cat on W.W. White road Monday July 8, 2013 where Texas governor Rick Perry announced that he will not seek reelection.

Photo By JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Women and men protest at the entrance of Holt Cat on W.W. White road Monday July 8, 2013 where Texas governor Rick Perry announced that he will not seek reelection.

Photo By JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Women and men protest at the entrance of Holt Cat on W.W. White road Monday July 8, 2013 where Texas governor Rick Perry announced that he will not seek reelection.

Photo By Eva Ruth Moravec / Express-News

Protesters greet Gov. Rick Perry in San Antonio on Monday, July 8, 2013.

More Information

Gov. Rick Perry will not seek re-election, he announced to about 200 supporters and the media in a humid warehouse at the country's largest Caterpillar dealership Monday afternoon.

“I will spend the next 18 months working to create more jobs,” he said. “I make this announcement with a deep sense of humility and deep appreciation, and knowing I will truly miss serving in this capacity, because it is the greatest job in modern politics.”

Perry said he'll enjoy serving the remainder of his term through 2014, adding, “Until I leave this office, I will continue working hard to do what's best for Texas.” He did not say whether he'd make another presidential bid after his 2012 attempt failed.

Perry made the announcement at Holt Cat on South W.W. White Road, where supporters held up signs of Texas flags with the words “TEXAS WORKS.” San Antonio Spurs' majority owner Peter Holt, who has previously contributed heavily to Texans for Rick Perry, is the CEO of Holt Cat.

The governor touted job creation as his proudest achievement, saying 1.6 million new jobs have been created while he led the state, adding that a “simple philosophy” to fund education and health care through jobs and not taxes has guided his leadership.

Perry also said, to hearty applause, that he was proud to have protected the sanctity of marriage and to “have better protected the right to life for Texas women.”

“We Texans are not afraid of a good fight,” he said, alluding to the controversial debate in the Texas Capitol over reproductive rights. “We're not afraid to fight for what we believe in. Leadership demands action.”

As Perry spoke, about 30 people who were kept off of the property gathered outside Holt Cat's gates. All but one wore orange shirts, a color that has come to represent the pro-abortion rights movement and those who oppose an omnibus bill to restrict abortions that was filibustered at the end of the first special session this summer.

When the bill failed, Perry called lawmakers back for a second special session, saying, “The citizens of our state have made crystal clear their priorities ... Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn.”

“We're very pleased to see him go,” said Jennifer Falcon, who organized the protest. “We're watching history being made in Texas.”

Ida Ayala, a teacher, wearing a blue shirt, said she'd hoped to glimpse Perry but instead saw the protesters, so she grabbed a sign in her trunk that read, “Life is a choice.” Perry's announcement upset her, she said.

“I'm sad about it,” she said, “but sometimes change is good.”

Many in Texas politics had been awaiting Perry's decision to make their own plans, and Monday's news was expected to set off a domino effect of other campaign announcements.

“Our responsibility remains to the next generation of Texans, who will inherit a state of our making,” he said. “It is my hope that tomorrow's leaders build on our legacy of opportunity, so Texans born of any circumstance can experience the great American dream.” emoravec@express-news.net